Surface-Active Catalysts for Interfacial Gas-Liquid-Solid Reactions.

Area of Science:

• Chemical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Multiphase reactions (gas-liquid-solid) are crucial in chemical industry but limited by poor gas solubility and mass transfer.
• Conventional methods use high pressure, temperature, or cosolvents to enhance reaction rates, often inefficiently.
• Surfactant-stabilized foams are used, but face issues like coalescence and limited reusability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a taxonomy of microstructured gas-liquid-(solid) interfaces for gas-liquid-solid (G-L-S) microreactors.
• To critically appraise surface-active catalytic particles for engineering particle-stabilized foams.
• To elucidate the design principles for advanced G-L-S microreactors.

Main Methods:

• Classification of microstructured G-L-(S) interfaces including catalytic membrane contactors, microdroplets, and particle-stabilized foams.
• Analysis of particle adsorption thermodynamics and dynamics at the gas-liquid interface.
• Review of synthesis strategies for surface-active catalytic particles and their characterization.

Main Results:

• Particle-stabilized foams using surface-active catalytic particles significantly enhance G-L-S reaction rates.
• These particles provide stability, prevent coalescence, and are reusable, unlike conventional surfactants.
• Demonstrated applications in catalytic oxidation, hydrogenation, and tandem reactions using tailored particles.

Conclusions:

• Surface-active catalytic particles are effective for accelerating multiphase reactions in microreactors.
• Tailor-designed particles offer improved foam stability, catalytic efficiency, and reusability.
• Future development of data-driven computational tools for *in silico* particle design is recommended.